Do you have the skills, vision, enthusiasm and drive we are looking for to help establish multi agency teams to provide intensive support to families?

Following a grant from the Department for Education's Innovation Programme West Berkshire Council is rolling out Hertfordshire’s ground-breaking Family Safeguarding Model (FSM) (which achieved a 49% reduction in the number of children with Child Protection plans) bringing together a co-located, multi-agency team with colleagues specialising in substance misuse, adult mental health, domestic abuse and access to clinical psychologists to address the issues that place children at risk of harm. This Family Safeguarding Team will be fully trained to deliver support to families using a technique called Motivational Interviewing which has a methodology of coaching at its core. Motivational Interviewing skills are a key element of FSM and will provide a framework for practice for all staff in the Family Safeguarding Teams and all staff in the Children and Family Services in West Berkshire.

As a qualified social worker, you will be working at the forefront of best practice to deliver first class support to vulnerable children and families. This will include managing a complex and diverse caseload. You must have excellent written and verbal skills as you will need to prepare and deliver reports to conferences and court hearings. You will need at least one year’s frontline experience as well as completion of your ASYE and have substantial knowledge of childcare legislation and experience of conducting assessments as well as presenting care plans to conferences and reviews. You must be passionate about working with families to achieve the best outcome and be a competent and proactive team player to support the smooth running and working of the service.

West Berkshire sits on the crossroads of two key roads; the M4 and the A34. These offer quick access across southern England with London, Reading, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Oxford and Swindon all within an hour's drive of the area. It is a diverse area incorporating the best features of town and attractive countryside. Our staff are our greatest asset and you will receive regular supervision; have access to excellent training to develop your professional skills and interests.

We are committed to getting it right for children and young people - we have great staff doing amazing work, and we believe in investing in people to develop their skills and knowledge to achieve their full potential.

BBCSouth today recently featured West Berkshires Family safeguarding service, please follow the link:

We believe in investing in people to develop their skills and knowledge in order to achieve their full potential. West Berkshire Council understand the importance of a manageable caseload therefore are working towards for frontline Social Workers to have 12-14 children each.

"Social workers feel well supported by their managers. Children and young people benefit greatly from consistency in their relationships with social workers." Ofsted 2017

Ofsted Inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers – May 2017.

All applicants must be qualified with current HCPC registration. A full driving licence is essential because of the rural nature of the district. Our main offices are based in Newbury and the outskirts of Reading.

This role has been identified as public facing in accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2017; the requirement to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English applies.

To find out more about the Family Safeguarding Model of working contact Jacqui Keohane on (01635) 503120.

For more information on working for West Berkshire Council's Children and Family Services a 'Good' authority, visit www.westberks.gov.uk/socialwork

For more information on the Family Safeguarding model visit http://www.hertsfamilysafeguarding.co.uk/

Salary is £26,470-£35,229 per annum + £15K retention bonus payable after 3 years in post. All Social Work staff in these teams also have access to a 3 month sabbatical after 3 years in posts (8 weeks paid and 4 weeks banked leave).

Visit www.westberks.gov.uk/socialwork for more information about our benefits and support package, but also to find out from our social workers and managers why West Berkshire is a great place to live and work. Also why not sign up to our Children and Family Services Social Care Talent Pool on https://talentpool.jobsgopublic.com/westberkshire/social-care/profile. West Berkshire Council has exciting vacancies arising all the time. Rather than you having to search for them yourself, signing up to the Talent Pool means they come to you!

Step Up to Social Work

The Berkshire Regional Partnership has been successful in gaining funding for another cohort of Step Up to Social Work, for high achieving graduates who are thinking of a career change. Opportunities are available at each of the local authority partners within the partnership : Bracknell Forest Council (Lead Partner), Reading now known as Brighter Futures for Children, Slough Children's Services Trust and West Berkshire Council.Step Up to Social Work is a 14 month post graduate intensive fulltime qualifying programme. The course will start in January 2020 as part of the 6th cohort funded by the Department for Education.

So what do I need to apply?You will need to have experience of voluntary or paid work with children, young people and families and will need to demonstrate your maturity and emotional resilience.A minimum 2:1 level 6 degree qualification in a different subjectOr a 2:2 honours degree plus a higher degree (level 7 or above)PlusGrade C or above GCSE English Language and MathsLive in EnglandApplication is through the Department of Education website and the application window is open from 4th February –18th March 2019https://www5.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_capita78.asp?newms=info1